Aston Martin Announces 2016 DB9 GT, Updates to Vantage and Rapide S

There’s something about the older Aston Martins in the company’s lineup. The Vantage GT, while outclassed on paper by the Corvette Z06 and the Jaguar F-type V8, manages to retain an analog sports-car feel that’s wholly charming in its own right. And the DB9, despite 11 years in production, remains an involving, lovely thing to drive. It is, perhaps, the most idyllically Aston Martin of all the models the company sells. However, the last example we drove was still using Volvo’s typefaces from Aston’s days as part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. The new DB9 GT fixes that. More importantly, it offers more power.

The 5935-cc V-12 (which AM refers to as a 6.0-liter) gets a bump from 510 to 540 horsepower. It’s still a distant cry from the Ferrari FF’s 651-horse wind-’em-up whopper or the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG coupe’s 621-hp spine extractor, but AM V-12s have always been pleasant engines with a wonderful snarl. We will not shake a stick at these 30 new ponies. Aston claims 4.4 seconds to 60 and a 182-mph top speed. Unlike the Rapide and the Vanquish, which have moved to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, the DB9 GT still makes do with six cogs.

Inside, the GT receives Aston’s AMi II touch-screen infotainment suite, an update to the AMi system that arrived in the Vanquish. The company claims its revised menu structure makes it more user-friendly.

Outside, the revised DB9 gets a black-painted splitter and rear diffuser, black-anodized calipers, and a GT-engraved fuel-filler cap. Revised headlights and taillights round out the package. If you’d like, the new rear lamps can be fitted with carbon-fiber inserts. If that’s not enough of the wonder plastic for you, the side strakes, splitter, and diffuser can also be crafted from the stuff. And if black calipers don’t cut the Grey Poupon, Gaydon happily offers alternative colors.

Inside, the grand tourer now features “GT” badging embroidered on the seats. Coupe customers get a microsuede-wrapped steering wheel, while Volante buyers will be set up with a more traditional, leather-covered tiller.

Speaking of the wheel, Aston notes that the unit is inspired by the helm of the ripping One-77. The price for all this new finery? It starts at $202,775.

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